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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Ah, Facebook.

The high school reunion that never, ever ends--no matter how much you wish it would. But Facebook has mostly good sides, and one of the best is reconnecting with old friends. The past few days I've gotten to chat with my old high school friend and fellow writer, Blake, and it's been great to discuss words with someone else who writes them. I've also been in the midst of delivering a 300 page book for a client to the publishers, and today was D-day (delivery day). Sleepless nights and lots of coffee helped, and I'm so glad it's over for the time being. Now to think about my own stuff...at least for a few days, er maybe hours. In between preparing the manuscript to be sent, my conversation with him gave me a much needed mind break when I got to discuss my usual writing frustrations as well as recommend some of my recent favorite books. I've been thinking of these favorites and realized all of them have elements that I want to incorporate in my own personal writing.

The Kite Runner--You've seen me drool over Klahed Hosseini's pages before. The description is rich without being superfluous, and he ends his chapters with a statement that makes you want to read the next. A really, really hard book to put down. I also love reading about another culture, and the book follows a universal theme/story, which makes you like it even more.

Atonement--a story with a twist--my favorite! This one haunted me for days.

The Glass Castle--best opening line: "I was on fire." Also, it is baffling that this is a true story.

Perpetua--an account of a Christian martyr's life based on her diaries--one part story, the other part fact. A beautiful spiritual story, as well.

I'm not sure I know what to do with all of these thoughts....but I'm brainstorming...at least until the next project hits my inbox.

I just finished Atonement last week on my vacation, and loved it! I chose it as part of a summer reading challenge (as if I needed something to compel me to read) and wrote in my review about how I couldn't put it down - even when I was doing something else (like pouring a glass of water), I had it in my hand because I didn't want to waste a second of reading time by having to pick it up again.

I'm loving reading through your blog! It seems like we share a lot of passions--books, reading, writing, and probably a few more. :) And I know this is the wrong post, but I am with you about the literary blasphemy. I'm interested to hear what you think of it. :)